The Link Between August Birthdays and A.D.H.D.
source link: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/28/opinion/august-birthdays-adhd.html
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The Link Between August Birthdays and A.D.H.D.
A new study raises questions about age, maturity and overdiagnosis.
By Anupam B. Jena, Michael Barnett and Timothy J. Layton
The authors are health policy researchers.
The rate of diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder among children has nearly doubled in the past two decades. Rates of A.D.H.D. diagnoses also vary considerably across states, with nearly three times as many children getting the diagnosis in Kentucky (where one in five children are said to have the condition) as in Nevada. More than 5 percent of all children in the United States now take an A.D.H.D. medication. All this raises the question of whether the disease is being overdiagnosed.
Diagnosing A.D.H.D. is difficult. Unlike other childhood diseases — such as asthma, obesity and diabetes — the diagnosis of A.D.H.D. is inherently subjective and depends on the assessment of parents, school personnel and health care providers. For a child who is easily distracted, an assessment of normal, inattentive behavior by one could be a formal diagnosis of A.D.H.D. by another.
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